To slip into the skin of Patrizia Reggiani in “House of Gucci” by Ridley Scott, Lady Gaga did not hesitate to dive back into her painful memories, even if it means worrying the director.
House of Gucci: Ridley Scott still in shape
Ridley Scott is still far from retirement! Indeed, the dashing 83-year-old director offered us, in the space of a few weeks, two films: The Last Duel and House of Gucci. For these two feature films, based on real events, he surrounded himself with a solid cast. Adam Driver is also part of the two films. In the first, he plays a French knight of the 14th century, in the second, he plays Maurizio Gucci, the descendant of the haute couture house, assassinated in 1995.
Facing him, Lady Gaga plays the role of his wife, Patrizia Reggiani. The latter was accused of having ordered the murder of her husband to touch his inheritance. Ridley Scott’s film looks back at this case that hit the headlines in the 1990s.
Lady Gaga looks back on her preparation
Lady Gaga’s talent as an actress is well established, especially after her role in A Star is Born. In House of Gucci, she demonstrates once again the extent of his talent, in a different register.
To prepare for the role of Patrizia Reggiani, Lady Gaga did not hesitate to draw on her own personal experience, as she had done for A Star is Born. Indeed, as she recently stated to BBC News, a personal trauma helped her to slip into her character.
At the age of 19, she was sexually assaulted by a music producer. This event caused her post-traumatic stress disorder (PTS), which was made worse by other events in her personal life.
I suffer from complex post-traumatic stress (…) I used my different PTS for different parts of the script. I’m not saying it’s the right way to slip into a character’s skin, I don’t encourage other actors to do it (…) but I needed to have recourse to it. (…)
On the set, she therefore plunged into her painful memories to find the right emotion for the scenes of the film. A method that did not fail to worry Ridley Scott, who was worried about his mental health.
Reliving a trauma isn’t really the healthiest thing to do. But I experienced it as an exorcism.
Lady Gaga said.
Totally dedicated to the film, Lady Gaga also spent nine months to speak with an Italian accent, to blend in with Patrizia Reggiani’s skin.
